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This article approaches the field of global health governance from the vantage point of shared discourses and norms on the good governance of governance amongst multiple international organisations (IOs). Conceptually, we introduce metagovernance norms as constitutive, reflexive beliefs concerned with institutional order and IO interactions in a given governance field. We argue that such norms are entangled with causal beliefs and problem perceptions that form part of contingent, contested repertoires of knowledge. Moreover, we illustrate how IO ‘expert’ groups form an authoritative subject position from which truth claims about governance are advanced. Empirically, we trace metagovernance norms in discourse(s) amongst eight health IOs since the 1970s. We show how metagovernance norms have been constructed around competing beliefs about governance ‘effectiveness’ and problem perceptions concerned with different forms of ‘complexity’. Our research demonstrates that discourses on institutional order in global health are shaped by metagovernance norms drawing on historically-specific knowledge repertoires.

Besides the administrative capacity requirements of a policy and the contestation of the issue, there are also characteristics of the administration itself that may explain when an IPA is able to exert influence. The secretariat’s autonomy from member states, especially, constitutes an important resource that, under specific conditions, can be used to influence policy. In sum, scholars have collected evidence for the claim that international bureaucracies can be powerful actors who are able to use their central position within the organization, their informational advantage, and their authority vis-à-vis member states to influence IO actions and decisions. The need for a particular kind of knowledge that results from such a programmatically complex policy problem creates opportunities structures that the IPA may use to eventually influence the underlying decision. In contrast, autonomy of action is related to both administrative powers and resources and should thus be more important to explain IPA influence during policy application.

Research on the external dimension of EU migration governance has focused on the EU’s interests, preferences, and policy efficiency and coherence. Little attention has been paid to the myriad ways both partner and third countries react to the union’s external action. We explore the European influence on immigration and refugee policy liberalisation in South America, a region not directly targeted by extra-regional migration governance. Based on the analysis of 130 original interviews with government officials and NGO and IO representatives in eight South American countries we show that - although South American policymakers generally regard the EU as a model of ‘efficiency’, in terms of the EU’s intra-regional mobility regime – the remarkable legislative liberalisation in the region took place in the context of both political and moral opposition to restrictive shifts in EU extra-regional migration governance. The paper contributes to the literature on the EU external migration governance, policy diffusion, and Latin American migration policies by uncovering some of the unintended consequences of European migration governance in South America.

Besides the administrative capacity requirements of a policy and the contestation of the issue, there are also characteristics of the administration itself that may explain when an IPA is able to exert influence. The secretariat’s autonomy from member states, especially, constitutes an important resource that, under specific conditions, can be used to influence policy. In sum, scholars have collected evidence for the claim that international bureaucracies can be powerful actors who are able to use their central position within the organization, their informational advantage, and their authority vis-à-vis member states to influence IO actions and decisions. The need for a particular kind of knowledge that results from such a programmatically complex policy problem creates opportunities structures that the IPA may use to eventually influence the underlying decision. In contrast, autonomy of action is related to both administrative powers and resources and should thus be more important to explain IPA influence during policy application.

© 2015 Indian Ocean Research Group. This paper analyses two interrelated issues. The first is a description and discussion of Australian identity dilemmas and contested regionalisms as a backdrop to an understanding of Australia's degree of engagement with regional security regimes. Throughout its post-colonial history Australia has been characterised according to three main geopolitical orientations – continental, geopolitical role and maritime. It is argued that Australia only came to fully realise its maritime orientation in policy terms towards the end of the Cold War period. The second issue in this paper evaluates arguments in favour of the need for an overall Indian Ocean Maritime Security Regime (IOMSR) and it is suggested that an inclusive model, built around energy security stakeholders, is much preferred from the viewpoint of long-term regional stability. This paper describes overall Indian Ocean (IO) regional security concerns and arrangements and then focuses on the nature of IO maritime security and insecurity and the initiatives currently in place to deal with such issues. Five options for the creation of a new IOMSR are described and evaluated and Australia's place within each of these is discussed.

The paper discusses, illustrates and possibly contributes to overcoming two methodological problems that emerge in applying Social Network Analysis (SNA) to the study of IO-based innovation flows matrices. The first has to do with the scale-effects these matrices suffer from. The second refers to the need of dichotomising the matrices. Through an illustrative application to six OECD countries in the mid-1990s, the paper shows that, as for the former problem, different relativisation procedures can be, and have been, used, which either tend to alter the actual meaning of standard SNA indicators, or do not properly take into account the actual composition of countries’ final demand. As for the latter problem, the paper shows that the choice of discrete cut-offs is extremely sensitive, as comparative results actually change along the continuum of the matrices values. In order to overcome the scale problem, a new relativisation procedure is put forward that measures innovation flows embodied in a unit value basket of final demand and thus properly retains all the information provided by the original matrix of intersectoral innovation (embodied) flows. In addressing the problem of dichotomisation, the paper suggests, as a second best, to work with density distributions that can make the choice of discrete cut-off values less arbitrary.

The paper discusses, illustrates and possibly contributes to overcoming two methodological problems that emerge in applying Social Network Analysis (SNA) to the study of IO-based innovation flows matrices. The first has to do with the scale-effects these matrices suffer from. The second refers to the need of dichotomising the matrices. Through an illustrative application to six OECD countries in the mid-1990s, the paper shows that, as for the former problem, different relativisation procedures can be, and have been, used, which either tend to alter the actual meaning of standard SNA indicators, or do not properly take into account the actual composition of countries’ final demand. As for the latter problem, the paper shows that the choice of discrete cut-offs is extremely sensitive, as comparative results actually change along the continuum of the matrices values. In order to overcome the scale problem, a new relativisation procedure is put forward that measures innovation flows embodied in a unit value basket of final demand and thus properly retains all the information provided by the original matrix of intersectoral innovation (embodied) flows. In addressing the problem of dichotomisation, the paper suggests, as a second best, to work with density distributions that can make the choice of discrete cut-off values less arbitrary.